Snow Angel

From the beautiful "Christmas" album by Tori Amos called MIDWINTER GRACES, here is the chorus performing the simply heavenly "Snow Angel" in preparation for the holidays. This one kills me, so hauntingly beautiful. Loving Marquis on the bongos, Mr. Eberle on guitar and the particularly angelic sounds of the PS22 Chorus of 2011 here! Simply lovely, and captured to perfection by Ms. Lisa!

UPDATE: Thanks to our fantastic friend and supporter, Perez Hilton, for tweeting about the kids' new Tori Amos cover, and for the kind words!

PS22, Matisyahu & DP Dave Holmes at the 92nd Street Y

On March 16, 2010, the PS22 Chorus gave an epic performance of "On Nature" & "One Day" with the great Matisyahu at 92nd Street Y! (Click here to see the rehearsal versions with Matis inside the PS22 auditorium!) Needless to say, I had been dying to get ahold of this performance ever since, and was ecstatic to finally receive a copy from Matisyahu's manager when the kids performed with Matis last month at the ONEXONE Gala! Not only is it always a thrill to see and hear the kids professionally recorded, this particular performance featured the kids at their best with not only the genius of Matisyahu, but also accompanied by DP Dave Holmes of The Dub Trio on acoustic guitar! Playing with him and Matis was an inspiration, and I think we all enjoyed improvising our respective parts and bouncing off of each other's ideas.

We were actually only slated to do "One Day" for this performance, but we all recognized magic was happening on "On Nature" at the rehearsal earlier that day (footage previously posted). Matis was cool enough to insist on us doing that one as well! PS22 Chorus member Messale, who actually was a Matisyahu fan already, spontaneously stepped in to sing with Matis at the rehearsal, a bit unsure of the words, but sounding awesome! So on the bus ride to the event later that afternoon, I had him listening over and over to the first verse on my iPod, so he could have a moment with Matis. And what a moment it was!

Soloist Leah was at her best on "One Day," and she truly brought the house down!! Her voice never sounded better and the entire chorus was just spot on! I don't know if there's a song the PS22 Chorus enjoys singing more than this one, and I think that really comes across in this video. All in all, this was just one of those performances where everything came together perfectly, so deepest thanks to 92nd Street Y and of course to Matisyahu & his management for giving us permission to post these two videos!

PS22 Sings For The Veterans

The PS22 Chorus made their second appearance for the Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America, this time at their 4th Annual Gala at Gotham Hall in Manahattan! The kids opened the event with a bang after being introduced by NBC anchor Brian Williams, who apparently is a pretty big PS22 Chorus fan himself! (Before the kids took the stage he told me how much he loved the PS22 Chorus version of "Living On A Prayer" which he had already seen on YouTube!) So here is the PS22 Chorus of 2011 singing "One Day" by Matisyahu, led by the extraordinary Denise, and "Living On A Prayer" by Bon Jovi led by the equally extraordinary Azaria! The kids really worked it out and the chorus added some extra touches to the arrangements for this special performance.

Thanks to Paul Rieckhoff for having us back to pay honor to the men and women who have served and continue to serve our country. And thanks as always to Ms. Lisa for her beautiful filming, and Ms. Laurie for the beautiful pics that accompany this post.

High Honors!

Congrats to the PS22 Chorus for taking over YouTube this weekend!! The kids' amazing new cover of "Living On A Prayer" and their amazing collaboration with Judy Torres has brought our YouTube Channel to the #4 Most Viewed Musicians Channel this weekend! Unfortunately YouTube is currently experiencing some glitches, so we don't know the honors that the "Living On A Prayer" vid has no doubt achieved. But with over 50,000 hits on its debut weekend in addition to the incredible YouTube Channel Honors, there is no question the PS22 Chorus is still going strong! Check out the honors at the bottom of the screencap below.

PS22 Joins Judy Torres at 25th Annual Freestyle Concert at The Taj Mahal!

The kids of the PS22 Chorus were the surprise guests last night at Vito Bruno's 25th Anniversary of Freestyle Concert at the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City tonight! The kids were specifically requested by Judy Torres to join her on stage for a ballad version of her freestyle hit, "No Reason To Cry." The version was inspired by the one we created with her back in 2003! The piano arrangement for this performance was based on that classic collaboration (completely honored!), and I fleshed out the vocal arrangement this time for the chorus to really showcase the incredible talent of both Judy and the kids! The performance was a definite showstopper!! In addition, the kids were able to watch the soundcheck of several of the other performers that evening, including George Lamond & K7/TKA! Major thanks to Judy for including us on her special night, and as you can tell from the kids' messages on the bus footage at the end of the vid, we ALL adore this woman to pieces!

Big thanks to Ms. Lisa for filming the performance, and Ms. Laurie for the pics on this post! Also thanks to Mr. Eberle for sharing in the festivities!

Judy Torres backstage with PS22

PS22 Chorus with K7/TKA
PS22 Chorus with George Lamond

PS22 Chorus & Ms. Kim with Jonathan Cheban from E Channel's Spin Crowd)

Hangin' With Judy Torres!!

Way back in 2003, the PS22 Chorus got a visit from the "Queen Of Freestyle," Judy Torres! Yesterday, she returned to make some more music with the kids, this time singing "Faithfully," originally performed by Journey, then made into a dance hit several years ago by our extremely talented guest! Judy comes to us as family, and you can be sure you haven't seen the last of her appearing with PS22! (In fact there is one more video from our afternoon with Judy yesterday to look forward to which I'll be posting within the next few days!) In the meantime, check out the amazing rendition of "Faithfully" below!!

Thanks to Ms. Lisa for the awesome filming and pics! (And thanks to Ms. Laurie for the awesome rehearsal shot below!

Livin' On A Prayer

Last year, I recorded Azaria singing this when she was only in 4th grade, and was so close to posting it over the summer, until I realized it was too good to debut without the PS22 Chorus of 2011 behind her! So when "Livin' On A Prayer" was specifically requested by the coordinators of an event where the kids will be performing next week, I figured that was my cue! And "WHOOAA!!" It's safe to say this year's chorus is definitely more than "half way there!" Congrats to Azaria, who outdoes herself on the very difficult solo, and SO proud of the new group for this tight, beautiful, and dare I say EPIC rendition of this classic by Bon Jovi!

Thanks to Ms. Lisa for the beautiful camera work!

UPDATE: More thanks, this time to our fantastic friend and supporter, Perez Hilton, for spotlighting the kids' new musical accomplishment!

PS22 Chorus Gets A Message From KT Tunstall!

Thanks to our good friend Tara at EMI for forwarding us this lovely message from KT Tunstall, who dropped by to sing with PS22 last month! Check it out below:

Hi Gregg & the PS22 Choir,

What a total honour to get to sing with you guys and hear your AMAZING harmonies on my songs. It made me feel really lucky.

I had such a fantastic time, and will remember it forever. So much talent and dedication.

Gregg, you're a wonder of the world!!

I hope to see you all again soon, and KEEP ON ROCKIN'!!!

Love KT xxx

OCTOBER 2010 POLL RESULTS

PS22 Chorus fans have spoken and the funniest PS22 Chorus video was voted to be 2010's "Mrs. B vs. The Mugger" The extremely close second was 2009's "PS22 Chorus Kids Are VH1 Divas.

Make sure you vote in our new November Poll on the right sidebar!

Happy Halloween from the PS22 Chorus!!

Another gem from the new 2011 crew!! Tori Amos 'vignettes' often make for fun Halloween songs, so add the PS22 Chorus to the equation and you have instant win! Awesome job to Kaitlynn (fourth grade chorus member) and Kaleb, playing the not-so-happy bride and groom! Happy Halloween from all of us at 22!!

Thanks to Ms. Lisa for the great vid and pic!

PS22 & Matisyahu at Matt Damon's ONEXONE Fundraiser!

It was an honor to have the PS22 Chorus help raise the roof last night with our old pal Matisyahu at the 3rd Annual ONEXONE Fundraiser at The Capitale in NYC! The organization is sponsored by Academy Award-winner Matt Damon, who proved his cool by taking the time to come up to the chorus's green room to thank and hang with the kids just before they hit the stage! And as far as Matisyahu is concerned, Brianna sums it up best on the bus ride home. (See the vid below!) I don't think you could find a more humble, down-to-earth performer. Thanks to them and everyone at ONEXONE for giving our kids a night to remember! The event was major, and featured such stars such as Patricia & David Arquette, Collective Soul, K'naan and Michael Franti as both performers and attendees. It was an honor to serve the cause! The kids really worked it out, giving a rousing performance, to say the least! And major props to Denise for her awesome soloing with Matis, and her beautiful intro of "No One" by Alicia Keys!

Big thanks to Ms. Lisa for her fantastic video footage and pics! Also thanks to Ms. Laurie, Mrs. Johnson, & Ms. Kaufmann for contributing some more great shots featured on this post, and just sharing in the fun!

On the Red Carpet!

Hangin' with Matt Damon!


Performing with Matis!



Ryan, Antonio, & Mrs. Johnson!
Dominique, Sarah, & Christopher M.!
Jonathon loses a finger... Cameron, Ramius, & Ryan C.!
Abigail & Mia -- peace out yo!

Trust In Him

Several years ago, PS22 Chorus members (and brothers) Ben & Eric sang this song for me when they arrived at PS22 from Liberia. (You may recall seeing Ben on numerous occasions 'round these parts -- most notably his performance on "Now Behold The Lamb" by Kirk Franklin.) I had never heard "Trust In Him" before and still have no clue who composed it (anybody?), but the song has remained stuck in my head through all the years that have passed. I decided it was time to do something with it, and Denise & Marquis lead the chorus to another remarkable musical accomplishment. Thanks to brothers Ben & Eric (cousins of Denise -- explains a lot!) for cueing us in to this beautiful spiritual.

And thanks as always to Ms. Lisa for her awesome filming!